Prime Minister David Cameron has this morning called for Uefa to hand out "tough
sanctions" to those found guilty of racism offences after England's
under-21 team were subjected to monkey chants by supporters during their
game against Serbia on Tuesday night.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "It is not good enough to say that people should shake hands and forget about it. If we are going to stamp out racism from football then it is no good handing out derisory fines as has happened in the past."

The Prime Minister's intervention came after sports minister Hugh Robertson wrote to Uefa president Michel Platini demanding sever action against those found guilty of racist offences following the game in Krusevac.

The Football Association has complained to Uefa following ugly scenes that saw Tottenham full-back Danny Rose subjected to monkey chants by sections of the crowd, and a brawl between Serbian players and staff and members of England’s coaching staff.

The England players also report being hit as missiles including coins and pieces of concrete thrown from the crowd following England’s injury-time winner.

In his letter Robertson backs the FA’s calls for an investigation, and urges Platini to adopt the toughest penalties for those found guilty.

“The scenes at the end of the game last night were disgraceful,” Robertson said. “I have written to Uefa President Michel Platini, in support of The FA, urging them to investigate immediately. Racism in any form is unacceptable and must be stamped out. We would expect tough sanctions from Uefa on anyone found guilty of racist abuse.”

Uefa has received regular criticism for its disciplinary action on racist incidents, with serious cases often receiving lesser fines than those handed down for breaches of marketing regulations.

In the European Championships this summer Nicklas Bendtner was fined £80,000 for wearing branded underpants than nations whose supporters were found guilty of racist abuse.

England players have regularly been subject to racist abuse, with fines handed down to the Slovakian, Macedonian, Serbian and Hungarian federations in 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2011 respectively. The largest fine was £34,000, levied on Bulgaria, and the smallest £16,500.

Serbia are already on notice from Platini about the conduct of supporters, warning them in 2011 that they could be thrown out of Euro 2012 after a meeting with president Boris Tadic. A qualifying game against Italy in Genoa had to be abandoned after Serbian fans threw flares onto the pitch, burned an Albanian flag and fought with police.

Uefa will wait to receive a report from the referee and its match delegate before deciding what charges to bring. It is possible that England’s staff could be investigated along with the Serbian players and coaching staff for their role in the brawl that followed the game.

Rose today called on Serbia to be banned from international competition, and detailed the the concerted abuse to which he was subjected.

"The monkey chants started when we went out for the warm-up. I asked the lads if they could hear it and they said they could. I went to see 'Wigs' [Steve Wigley] and I told him what was happening and he just said 'try your best to get through it' and people would deal with it after the game,” he said.

"In the first half I went to get the ball for a throw-in and the fans started with the monkey chanting again. But the first half was nowhere near as bad as the second. Two stones hit me in the head when I went to get the ball for a throw-in and whenever I touched the ball there was monkey chanting.

"After 60 minutes my mind wasn't really on the game, I was just so angry. It was just so hard to concentrate and I could have cost the lads the game because I made a few mistakes through not concentrating. My mind wasn't on the game.

"After 90 minutes of abuse I expressed my emotions as soon as we scored. The next thing I know I've turned around and the Serbian players had all run over and surrounded me, pushing me and a brawl broke out.

"I remember getting slapped twice and then I got ushered away – that's when I kicked the ball and the referee sent me off. I don't understand it, the game had finished.

"They have to be banned. I don't understand what else they can learn from it, they have to be banned."